Reading The Son of Neptune
by TitleWave
Summary: The gang comes upon the book and decides to read it. What would happen, as they recalled their past adventures? WARNING: DO NOT READ UNLESS YOU'VE READ THE LOST HERO! TWO OCs ARE FOUND IN THE WHOLE READING PLOT!
1. DISCLAIMER

**DISCLAIMER:**

**roach26 and winonabcd do _not_ own Percy Jackson and the Olympians.  
>We do not own the plot of The Son of Neptune.<br>****We _do_ own the comments and the Original Characters (Tristan Luctus and Sarah Jackson) respectively.**


	2. PROLOGUE

Crowds chattered all around them, laughing as they searched through the colorful stands. An eagle soared above them, glaring slightly before flying off to its master.

"Can we just stop to have lunch?" a young boy asked, irritated. He ran his fingers through his swift black hair, as he darted his green eyes back to the blond girl in front of him.

The girl rolled her beautiful stormy gray eyes, as they turned to look bottomless. She tucked a pencil behind her ear, underneath those honey-blond curls of hers. She glared at the boy, as her fingers tapped on the clipboard she was holding. "Seriously, Percy. We just stopped at that café three minutes ago!"

The nineteen-year-old boy grinned, as his thumb pointed to the latte in his hand. "This wasn't lunch," he complained, a slight mischievous glint sparkling in his eyes.

The girl sighed, and grabbed his wrist. "And besides, _Percy_, I have to get these plans for the temples over and done with! It's been three years since they gave me the job, and I haven't gotten anywhere far."

"Work, work. Pish-posh, I say," Percy said, waving his free hand in the air, faking the British accent. The girl frowned at him, which only caused him to smile. "You can't work all day. I'm betting you're hungry too, _Annabeth_."

Her stomach growled, causing her to blush. Percy laughed at her, which earned him a nice punch on the shoulder.

"Aw, don't be like that," he teased, poking her slightly.

Annabeth just laughed, kissing him softly on the cheek. "We'll go get lunch—"

Percy cheered.

"—right after I get this architect book from my mom's library," Annabeth finished, causing Percy to slightly frown. She laughed. "Just wait here. I'll be back before you know it."

Percy sighed, as he watched his girlfriend disappear into the crowd. He stood there, feeling uncomfortable, until he couldn't stand it anymore. He _had_ to move.

His feet carried him deeper into the marketplace, not knowing where he was even headed for. He nodded his head at several minor gods and goddesses that were passing by—Hypnos, Eris and Dolores, to name a few.

Suddenly, he found himself out of that busy marketplace and on the streets, as his legs continued to take him further away from the colorful mess behind him. His feet squished on the hard asphalt, the puddles of water rippling underneath his left foot.

The aroma of freshly baked nectar-cookies and ambrosia-flavored ice cream filled the streets, making his stomach growl even more. Was there any _non_-godly food on Olympus anyways?

Finally, he noticed his feet stopped, as he realized he was standing at the edge of an intersection, while chariots zoomed past him. He never knew Olympus could be so busy.

His gaze fixed on the shop in front of him. The golden walls drew people towards the shop, wanting to go in. He looked up to read the shop's name, cursing the fact that he had dyslexia. Turns out, he didn't need to. On the top of the shop, the store's name was written perfectly in Ancient Greek. _The Olympus Scribes_.

Percy crossed the rushed street, ignoring the yells and complains he got from the chariot's respective drivers. His legs stopped at the front of the store's window, not believing his eyes. He counted his drachmas, before rushing inside to buy the book.

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><p>"Percy!" Annabeth's voice rang through the crowds, her gray eyes searching for her missing boyfriend. Great. Trust a guy with <em>ADHD <em>to stay put for half an hour all by himself in a busy marketplace. Probably not the best idea.

She scanned the crowds, ignoring the offers the sellers were yelling at her. Suddenly, she felt a tap on her shoulder. Grabbing her knife, she spun around, ready to stab the person in the chest.

"Whoa!" came the familiar voice, as he put his hands up in the air. "Honestly, Annabeth. I think your new hobby would be killing people."

Annabeth rolled her eyes, strapping her knife safely back on her belt. "Where were you?"

Percy pointed to further down the market. "Checking out a bookstore."

She blinked. "_Bookstore_?"

The Son of Poseidon nodded, showing her the book he bought. "This was the reason why."

She hesitated, before grabbing the book and tucking it in her bag. "We have to check it out with the others. This is something big, Percy, and you can't just leave this alone."

"You think I don't know that? That's why I bought the book!"

Annabeth rolled her eyes. Her soft hands grabbed onto his hard wrist, as she pulled him out of the marketplace, out of Olympus, and into the mortal world.

* * *

><p>"So what's this all about?"<p>

Percy ignored the question. The boy has been asking the same thing for the past five minutes, and was getting on his nerves

"What's this all about?" the voice said again.

Again, he ignored.

"Perce, what's this all about?"

"Shut up!" He couldn't take it anymore, as he burst out on the younger demigod next to him.

The boy just rolled up his sleeves, rolling his eyes. "Sheesh, I was just asking."

"You've been asking the same question for the past five minutes, Nico."

"Your fault for not answering."

Percy rolled his eyes, as he finally arrived on a hill by the lake. He smiled at the smell of water nearby, and had the sudden urge to run and jump into the freezing pool of freshwater. Unfortunately, he had to resist.

Nico scanned the hill, surveying the people there. The first person he noticed was Annabeth, seeing how she was the only one standing up.

On her right was a black-haired girl, with electric blue eyes. Thalia Grace, Daughter of Zeus and Lieutenant of Artemis. _Does that mean the hunters are at camp?_ he wondered, but he let the question hang.

On Thalia's right was a choppy-haired girl, with flashing eyes and a tanned skin. Her head rested on her knees as she stared at the boy in front of her. This was Piper McLean, Daughter of Aphrodite and also counselor of the cabin.

Next to her was a Latino elf kid, with curly dark hair and mischievous dark eyes. His fingers spun around a metallic screwdriver, while his other hand poked a stick in the soft mud. Leo Valdez, Son of Hephaestus, also a counselor.

Sitting beside him was a pudgy looking kid, with flexed muscles, and dark eyes. He had a buzz cut, which supports the next fact. He looked like a typical son of Mars, but one thing ruined the image: his babyish face. Nico shook his head at Frank Zhang, Son of Mars.

He smiled at the next person, sitting next to her. Her golden brown hair glistened in the sunlight, her beautiful brown eyes greeting him. This was his only sister left. Meet Hazel Levesque, Daughter of Pluto.

He nodded at his cousin, who was now sitting next to him. Jason Grace turned his lightning blue eyes back on Piper, as the two continued to stare at each other, not breaking the gaze. _If you wanted to flirt, just sit next to each other, jeez_.

Percy sat down next to Jason, pulling Annabeth down in the process.

Finally, Nico spoke up, _again_. "What's this about again?"

Percy rolled his eyes, but decided he could answer his annoying question by now. "Well, I was on Olympus, and Annabeth was busy redesigning Olympus—"

"Yes, yes, that's nice," Thalia interrupted, a little annoyed. "Can we get to the chase?"

"I was getting there," Percy growled back, but Thalia just waved it away. "I found a book in _The Olympus Scribes_ yesterday, and Annabeth thought it was important."

"Important?" Leo scoffed, not getting the puzzle pieces.

A twig snapped behind them, and they turned to face a scrawny-looking boy. His jet-black hair swept over his dark eyes, as sadness radiated from them. One look into his eyes, and the sadness you felt would burst into your mind, reliving those gloomy days.

"Is that _The Son of Neptune_?" the boy asked, his scrawny finger pointing to the book on Annabeth's lap.

Annabeth gawked at him. "Why yes, Tristan. It is. How did you know?"

"The book's everywhere in the mortal world. The biggest buzz, lately," he simply stated. "May I join?"

Percy shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

Tristan smiled at him, sitting down between Jason and Nico. He gave everyone a quick nod, before placing his eyes on the ground.

"OK, now that Luctus joined, can we start now?" Thalia asked irately.

Percy nodded.

"Wait!" Everyone turned to Piper. "What's _The Son of Neptune_?"

"Better if you showed them the cover," Tristan mumbled, and Annabeth lifted the book for everyone to see.

A collective gasp erupted from the small group, as they recognized the demigod on the cover. The golden eagle stood out among the blue background. On the cover, was Percy Jackson himself, with the Twelfth Legion's golden eagle in hand.

"OK, now we know what it is, why don't we start. Who wants to read first?"

All eyes fell on Percy. He sighed, and took the book from Annabeth's hand. "Chapter one: Percy."

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><p><strong>Hope you liked it! Please review! :D<strong>


	3. I: PERCY

I  
>Percy<p>

"_**Chapter I: Percy**__."_

**THE SNAKE-HAIRED LADIES WERE starting to annoy Percy. They should have died three days ago when he dropped a crate of bowling balls on them at the Napa Bargain Mart. They should have died two days ago when he ran over them with a police car in Martinez. They **_**definitely**_** should have died this morning when he cut off their heads in Tilden Park. **

**No matter how many times Percy killed them and watched them crumble to powder, they just kept re-forming like large evil dust bunnies. **

"Oooh, scary," Nico said, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

"Shut up," Percy snapped.

**He couldn't even seem to outrun them.**

**He reached the top of the hill and caught his breath. How long since he'd last killed them? Maybe two hours. They never seemed to stay dead longer than that. **

**The past few days, he'd hardly slept. He'd eaten whatever he could scrounge—vending machine gummi bears, stale bagels, even a Jack in the Crack burrito, which was a new personal low.**

"Jack in the Crack? I'm not sure your mother would appreciate that language young man," Thalia remarked.

"Shut up," Percy repeated. Leo and Jason tried to contain their laughter.

**His clothes were torn, burned, and splattered with monster slime. **

**He'd only survived this long because the two snake-haired-ladies—**_**gorgons**_**, they called themselves—couldn't seem to kill him either. Their claws didn't cut his skin. Their teeth broke whenever they tried to bite him. **

"Their teeth probably cracked because your skin already tastes bad enough," Nico teased again.

"_Shut up_!" Percy yelled, exasperated.

**But Percy couldn't keep going much longer. Soon he'd collapse from exhaustion, and then—as hard as he was to kill, he was pretty sure the gorgons would find a way. **

"They always do," Nico added mysteriously. Unfortunately, his attempt in annoying everyone failed, because Percy ignored him and continued reading.

**Where to run? **

"Up the hill and far away." Three guesses who said that.

**He scanned his surroundings. Under different circumstances, he might've enjoyed the view. To his left, golden hills rolled inland, dotted with lakes, woods, and a few herds of cows. To his right, the flatlands of Berkeley and Oakland marched west—a vast checkerboard of neighborhoods, with several million people who probably did not want their morning interrupted by two monsters and a filthy demigod. **

"Another reason why you won't taste good," Nico chimed in, and Percy settled for glaring.

**Farther west, San Francisco Bay glittered under a silvery haze. Past that, a wall of fog had swallowed most of San Francisco, leaving just the tops of skyscrapers and the towers of the Golden Gate Bridge. **

**A vague sadness weighed on Percy's chest. Something told him he'd been to San Francisco before. The city had some connection to Annabeth—the only person he could remember from his past. **

"Aw!" Piper cooed. "That's so sweet!"

Annabeth smiled, and kissed Percy, who was still frowning, on the cheek.

Meanwhile, Leo gave the Daughter of Aphrodite a skeptical look. "Pipes, are you sure you're alright?"

Piper frowned, not getting what he meant. Realization dawned onto her, and she palmed her face. "My sisters are growing on me, aren't they?"

Everyone chuckled, and Piper could only take that as a 'yes'.

**His memory of her was frustratingly dim. **

Annabeth's face fell slightly at this. _Oh well. Better this than nothing,_ she thought.

**The wolf had promised he would see her again and regain his memory—**_**if **_**he succeeded in his journey. **

**Should he try to cross the bay? **

**It was tempting. He could feel the power of the ocean just over the horizon. Water always revived him. Salt water was the best. He'd discovered that two days ago when he had strangled a sea monster in the Carquinez Strait. **

Jason looked stunned. "Impressive," he commented. Percy grinned.

Thalia, Nico and Annabeth groaned. "Great, now you just made his ego grow!"

**If he could reach the bay, he might be able to make a last stand. Maybe he could even drown the gorgons. But the shore was at least two miles away. He'd have to cross an entire city. **

**He hesitated for another reason. The she-wolf Lupa had taught him to sharpen his senses—to trust the instincts that had been guiding him south. His homing radar was tingling like crazy now. The end of his journey was close—almost right under his feet. But how could that be? There was nothing on the hilltop. **

"It's under the hill, idiot," Nico muttered under his breath.

"Alright, that's it! No more mocking me! Annabeth! You read now! I've got to take out the trash!" Percy started towards Nico, who nimbly dodged the thrust.

Annabeth sighed. "Ok, while those two continue their little game of tag, let's read on."

**The wind changed. Percy caught the sour scent of reptile.**

"That's probably you!" Nico yelled, causing Percy's rage to explode. The two ran down the hill, getting further and further away from the gang.

**A hundred yards down the slope, something rustled through the woods—snapping branches, crunching leaves, hissing. **

**Gorgons. **

**For the millionth time, Percy wished their noses weren't so good. They had always said they could **_**smell**_** him because he was a demigod—the half-blood son of some old Roman god. **

"_Greek_ god," Annabeth corrected the book _and _Percy, forgetting the fact that Percy couldn't even hear.

"Annabeth? You _do_ know that he can't hear you, right? And that you're technically talking to _a book_?" Tristan asked, causing Annabeth to frown.

"Whatever," she said, and continued reading.

**Percy had tried rolling in mud, splashing through creeks, even keeping air-freshener sticks in his pockets so he'd have that new car smell; but apparently demigod stink was hard to mask. **

"No chizz, Sherlock," Thalia grumbled.

"I wonder what demigods smell like…" Leo pondered, and everyone else decided to let the question hang.

**He scrambled to the west side of the summit. It was too steep to descend. The slope plummeted eighty feet, straight to the roof of an apartment complex built into the hillside. Fifty feet below that, a highway emerged from the hill's base and wound its way toward Berkeley.**

**Great. No other way off the hill. He'd managed to get himself cornered. **

**He stared at the stream of cars flowing west toward San Francisco and wished he were in one of them. Then he realized the highway must cut through the hill. There must be a tunnel…right under his feet. **

"Wow," Thalia commented, impressed. "He must've grown a few brain cells."

"How many brain cells did he have?" Frank asked.

Annabeth and Thalia shared a look. "Uh… less than you think," they answered, and Frank tried to figure out how many brain cells that was.

**His internal radar went nuts. He was in the right place, just too high up. He had to check out that tunnel. He needed a way down to the highway—fast. **

**He slung off his backpack. He'd managed to grab a lot of supplies at the Napa Bargain Mart: a portable GPS, duct tape, lighter, superglue, water bottle, camping roll, a Comfy Panda Pillow Pet (as seen on TV), and a Swiss army knife—pretty much every tool a modern demigod could want. But he had nothing that would serve as a parachute or a sled. **

**That left him two options: jump eighty feet to his death, or stand and fight. **

"Jump eighty feet," Jason decided for his cousin.

Leo rolled his eyes. "Dude, that's because you can _fly_, remember? Not all of us your cool powers."

On the other hand, Thalia was paled at the mention of eighty feet. _He was _that_ high up?_

Annabeth noticed this and patted her friend's hand gently, and Tristan only put on a knowing smirk.

**Both options sounded pretty bad. **

"Stand up and fight isn't all that bad," Thalia squeaked. _Better than jumping down from eight feet up._

**He cursed and pulled his pen from his pocket. **

"Good, and write them to death," Frank joked, shutting up when Annabeth gave him an annoyed look.

**The pen didn't look like much, just a regular cheap ballpoint, but when Percy uncapped it, it grew into a glowing bronze sword. The blade balanced perfectly. The leather grip fit his hand like it had been custom designed for him. Etched along the guard was an Ancient Greek word Percy somehow understood: **_**Anaklusmos**_**—Riptide. **

**He'd woken up with this sword his first night at the Wolf House—two months ago? More? He'd lost track. **

"'Cause he got hit by the train," Leo interrupted. The Daughter of Athena ignored him and continued reading.

**He'd found himself in the courtyard of a burned-out mansion in the middle of the woods, wearing shorts, an orange T-shirt, and a leather necklace with a bunch of strange clay beads. Riptide had been in his hand, but Percy had had no idea how he'd gotten there, and only the vaguest idea who he was. He'd been barefoot, freezing, and confused. And then the wolves came...**

"Ate him, and lived happily ever after," Leo interrupted yet again.

Annabeth glared at him, and he immediately shut up.

**Right next to him, a familiar voice jolted him back to the present: "There you are!" **

**Percy stumbled away from the gorgon, almost falling off the edge of the hill. **

**It was the smiley one—Beano.**

Frank and Leo cracked up. Hazel sent her boyfriend and the guy-who-looks-like-her-dead-ex-boyfriend a skeptical look.

"The gorgon's name sounds like two words!" Frank choked.

"What are you talking about?" Leo played along. Frank gave him a 'are you serious' look, and Leo continued their act. "Bean… oooooh."

Hazel rolled her eyes.

**Okay, her name wasn't really Beano. As near as Percy could figure, he was dyslexic, because words got twisted around when he tried to read. The first time he'd seen the gorgon, posing as a Bargain Mart greeter with a big green button that read: **_**Welcome! My name is STHENO**_**, he'd thought it said BEANO.**

"Aw, you just ruined the fun," Leo pouted.

**She was still wearing her green Bargain Mart employee vest over a flower-print dress. If you looked just at her body, you might think she was somebody's dumpy old grandmother—until you looked down and realized she had rooster feet. Or you looked up and saw bronze boar tusks sticking out of the corners of her mouth. Her eyes glowed red, and her hair was a writhing nest of bright green snakes. **

Frank shuddered. "What an excellent sense of fashion."

Leo frowned angrily. "Hey! Sarcastic joking is my job, not yours!"

**The most horrible thing about her? She was still holding her big silver platter of free samples: Crispy Cheese 'n' Wieners. Her platter was dented from all the times Percy had killed her, but those little samples looked perfectly fine. Stheno just kept toting them across California so she could offer Percy a snack before she killed him. Percy didn't know why she kept doing that, but if he ever needed a suit of armor, he was going to make it out of Crispy Cheese 'n' Wieners. They were indestructible. **

"Boy, sounds absolutely _delicious_," Leo snorted. "Who on earth eats a crispy hot dog? Or cheese and hot dogs? Is it even _possible_ to make cheese crispy?"

"Does it really matter," Frank asked. "At least they're not Ding-Dongs."

Leo shook his head. "Man, I don't even know if you're human."

Frank grinned wickedly. "I don't have to be."

Leo decided to drop it.

"**Try one?" Stheno offered. **

**Percy fended her off with his sword. "Where's your sister?" **

"**Oh, put the sword away," Stheno chided. "You know by now that even Celestial bronze can't kill us for long. Have a Cheese 'n' Wiener! They're on sale this week, and I'd hate to kill you on an empty stomach." **

"**Stheno!" The second gorgon appeared on Percy's right so fast, he didn't have time to react. Fortunately she was too busy glaring at her sister to pay him much attention. "I told you to sneak up on him and kill him!" **

"She seems smarter than the first," Annabeth studied, as her eyes skimmed the last few paragraphs.

Thalia scoffed. "Well, that's obvious. What kind of person try to ambush their target by saying '_hi_'?"

**Stheno's smile wavered. "But, Euryale…" She said the name so it rhymed with **_**Muriel**_**. "Can't I give him a sample first?" **

"**No, you imbecile!" Euryale turned toward Percy and bared her fangs. **

**Except for her hair, which was a nest of coral snakes instead of green vipers, she looked exactly like her sister. Her Bargain Mart vest, her flowery dress, even her tusks were decorated with 50% off stickers. Her name badge read: Hello! My name is **_**DIE, DEMIGOD SCUM!**_

"What wonderful hospitality," Piper remarked.

"She seems like a nice lady," Jason added.

Leo frowned again, making Frank smirk, uncontrollably.

"**You've led us on quite a chase, Percy Jackson," Euryale said. "But now you're trapped, and we'll have our revenge!" **

"Dun, dun, dun!" Frank and Leo chimed, adding 'dramatic' effect. Everyone else just rolled their eyes.

"**The Cheese 'n' Wieners are only $2.99," Stheno added helpfully. "Grocery department, aisle three."**

**Euryale snarled. "Stheno, the Bargain Mart was a **_**front**_**! You're going native! Now, put down that ridiculous tray and help me kill this demigod. Or have you forgotten that he's the one who vaporized Medusa?" **

"Wow. How did he do that?" Jason asked.

Annabeth shuddered as bad memories enveloped her mind. "Long story," she breathed, before quickly resuming to read.

**Percy stepped back. Six more inches, and he'd be tumbling through thin air. "Look, ladies, we've been over this. I don't even **_**remember**_** killing Medusa. I don't remember anything! Can't we just call a truce and talk about your weekly specials?" **

**Stheno gave her sister a pouty look, which was hard to do with giant bronze tusks. "Can we?" **

"Yes please," Leo said. "I wanna know more of your silly specials."

"**No!" Euryale's red eyes bored into Percy. "I don't care what you remember, son of the sea god. I can smell Medusa's blood on you. It's faint, yes, several years old, but **_**you**_** were the last one to defeat her. She **_**still**_** has not returned from Tartarus. It's your fault!" **

**Percy didn't really get that. The whole "dying then returning from Tartarus" concept gave him a headache. Of course, so did the idea that a ballpoint pen could turn into a sword, or that monsters could disguise themselves with something called the Mist, or that Percy was the son of a barnacle-encrusted god from five thousand years ago. **

Thalia looked amused.

"What's up with the face, sis?" Jason asked, as he raised an eyebrow at his sister.

"You know," she began, "Percy just mocked his own father by calling him 'barnacle-encrusted god'."

"That's not much of an insult," Hazel surveyed. "But then again, Bacchus, er, Dionysus, _does_ call him 'Barnacle Beard'."

**But he **_**did**_** believe it. Even though his memory was erased, he knew he was a demigod the same way he knew his name was Percy Jackson. From his very first conversation with Lupa the wolf, he'd accepted that this crazy messed-up world of gods and monsters was his reality. Which pretty much sucked. **

Everyone nodded their head, agreeing.

"**How about we call it a draw?" he said. "I can't kill you. You can't kill me. If you're Medusa's sisters—like **_**the**_** Medusa who turned people to stone—shouldn't I be petrified by now?" **

"**Heroes!" Euryale said with disgust. "They always bring that up, just like our mother! 'Why can't you turn people to stone? Your sister can turn people to stone.' Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you, boy! That was Medusa's curse alone. **_**She**_** was the most hideous one in the family. She got all the luck!"**

**Stheno looked hurt. "Mother said **_**I**_** was the most hideous."**

Piper blinked. "She actually _wants_ to look hideous?"

"Never met a lot of people like that," Thalia agreed.

Hazel tapped her chin. "Actually, I might know one or two. Those who are already born hideous, I mean."

The other two girls raised an eyebrow at her. "Oh, just Stupid One and Stupid Two," she smirked, jerking her thumb at Leo and Frank.

"Hey!" the two boys chorused. Everyone laughed at them, while Hazel planted a kiss on Frank's cheek.

"**Quiet!" Euryale snapped. "As for you, Percy Jackson, it's true you bear the mark of Achilles. That makes you a little tougher to kill. But don't worry. We'll find a way." **

"**The mark of what?" **

"**Achilles," Stheno said cheerfully. "Oh, he was **_**gorgeous**_**! Dipped in the River Styx as a child, you know, so he was invulnerable except for a tiny spot on his ankle. That's what happened to you, dear. Someone must've dumped you in the Styx and made your skin like iron. But not to worry. Heroes like you always have a weak spot. We just have to find it, and then we can kill you. Won't that be lovely? Have a Cheese 'n' Wiener!" **

"She's determined, I'd give you that," Jason observed.

**Percy tried to think. He didn't remember any dip in the Styx. Then again, he didn't remember much of anything. His skin didn't feel like iron, but it would explain how he'd held out so long against the gorgons. Maybe if he just fell down the mountain…would he survive? He didn't want to risk it—not without something to slow the fall, or a sled, or… **

**He looked at Stheno's large silver platter of free samples. Hmm... **

"**Reconsidering?" Stheno asked. "Very wise, dear. I added some gorgon's blood to these, so your death will be quick and painless." **

Tristan laughed irritably. "Yeah, that's what they always say."

Awkward silence.

Annabeth coughed. "Well, let's continue."

**Percy's throat constricted. "You added your blood to the Cheese 'n' Wieners?"**

"**Just a little." Stheno smiled. "A tiny nick on my arm, but you're sweet to be concerned. Blood from our right side can cure anything, you know, but blood from our left side is deadly—" **

"**You dimwit!" Euryale screeched. "You're not supposed to tell him that! He won't eat the wieners if you tell him they're poisoned!" **

**Stheno looked stunned. "He won't? But I said it would be quick and painless." **

"**Never mind!" Euryale's fingernails grew into claws. "We'll kill him the hard way—just keep slashing until we find the weak spot. Once we defeat Percy Jackson, we'll be more famous than Medusa! Our patron will reward us greatly!" **

**Percy gripped his sword. He'd have to time his move perfectly—a few seconds of confusion, grab the platter with his left hand... **

**Keep them talking, he thought. **

"**Before you slash me to bits," he said, "who's this patron you mentioned?" **

**Euryale sneered. "The goddess Gaea, of course! The one who brought us back from oblivion! You won't live long enough to meet her, but your friends below will soon face her wrath. Even now, her armies are marching south. At the Feast of Fortune, she'll awaken, and the demigods will be cut down like—like—" **

"**Like our low prices at Bargain Mart!" Stheno suggested. **

"Hey!" Everyone turned their heads to Leo. "I just realized that Stheno spilled their Plan A!"

Everyone palmed the face, and Annabeth just continued to read.

"**Gah!" Euryale stormed toward her sister. **

**Percy took the opening. He grabbed Stheno's platter, scattering poisoned Cheese 'n' Wieners, and slashed Riptide across Euryale's waist, cutting her in half. **

**He raised the platter, and Stheno found herself facing her own greasy reflection. **

"**Medusa!" she screamed. **

"Idiot!" Frank screamed back, mimicking, or at least _tried_ to mimic, what Stheno sound like.

**Her sister Euryale had crumbled to dust, but she was already starting to re-form, like a snowman un-melting. **

"**Stheno, you fool!" she gurgled as her half-made face rose from the mound of dust. "That's just your own reflection! Get him!" **

**Percy slammed the metal tray on top of Stheno's head, and she passed out cold. He put the platter behind his butt, said a silent prayer to whatever Roman god oversaw stupid sledding tricks, and jumped off the side of the hill.**

"And that's the end of the chapter," Annabeth stated. "Now who's going to read next?"

"I will," Thalia declared, grabbing the book from the Daughter of Athena, before opening it to continue reading.

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><p><strong>How was that? Hope it was good :) Review!<strong>


	4. II:Percy

**Hey y'all! This is roach26, and I'm here to give you (the audience), the fully complete, totally awesome, Chapter 2! (Applause, applause). So please enjoy! After all, it might be a while until you hear from me again!**

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><p>II<p>

Percy

"_I will," Thalia declared, grabbing the book from the Daughter of Athena, before opening it to continue reading._

"Chapter Two—"

"Yellow!" a voice called out, and everyone snapped their heads towards the source.

The figure came closer, to reveal a girl about nineteen years of age. Her sleet black curls rested on her shoulders. Her hair was quite long, reaching one-third of her back. Her sea-green eyes stared at the group, shining cheerfully, completely the opposite of what her twin currently had. In her delicate hands were two familiar figures, one still frowning, and the other happy as ever.

"Did you guys lose two idiots?" she asked.

"Hey!" one of them argued, but she simply ignored him.

"Why yes, we did," Thalia stared at the boys in her hand, before turning to face the girl again. "Where'd you find them?"

The girl shrugged. "The arena. They almost killed my mini-fighters," she said, glaring at her twin ever so slightly.

"Not my fault," he growled. "Nico started it."

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Not!"

"Too!"

"Not!"

"Shut up!" The two boys avoided her glare.

She released her grip on them, and the two tumbled on the ground. Percy quickly scrambled away from his sister's grasp, as he rushed back to his old position next to Annabeth.

"Say, what are you up to?" the Daughter of Poseidon asked, plopping down between her cousin Thalia and Piper. Her eyes drifted to the book in Thalia's hands, and a squeal escaped her lips. "No way! Is that _the Son of Neptune_? Sweet! I was planning on buying that later today!"

A moment of silence passed. "How'd you know it exists, Sarah?"

The Jackson girl just grinned. "I'm up-to-date on these kind of things. Ask Tristan."

Everyone turned to the said boy, who just nodded in agreement to his friend.

"Alright, now that little celebration fest is over, why don't we read, shall we?" Annabeth asked, and motioned Thalia to read on.

"Chapter two: Percy."

"Again?"

Thalia reread the chapter title. "Yep, seems like it." Percy just beamed at the sound of that.

**THE THING ABOUT PLUMMETING DOWNHILL at fifty miles an hour on a snack platter—if you realize it's a bad idea when you're halfway down, it's too late. **

Nico scoffed. "No chizz, Sherlock. What kind of idiot doesn't know that?" He shut himself up as soon as Percy glared at him.

**Percy narrowly missed a tree, glanced off a boulder, and spun a three-sixty as he shot toward the highway. **

"In other words, you did some pretty cool snack-platter sledging," Leo whistled. Frank nodded, agreeing with the Son of Hephaestus.

**The stupid snack tray did not have power steering. He heard the gorgon sisters screaming and caught a glimpse of Euryale's coral-snake hair at the top of the hill, but he didn't have time to worry about it. The roof of the apartment building loomed below him like the prow of a battleship. Head-on collision in ten, nine, eight… **

"Six, five, four…" Leo chanted.

"Three, two, one…" Frank continued.

"BOOM! HE'S DEAD!" they burst out, the little Son of Hades following them as they threw their hands in the air.

Percy rolled his eyes and motioned Thalia to continue reading.

**He managed to swivel sideways to avoid breaking his legs on impact. The snack platter skittered across the roof and sailed through the air. The platter went one way. Percy went the other. **

**As he fell toward the highway, a horrible scenario flashed through his mind:**

"Ooh, this'll be good," Thalia and Nico chimed, and Thalia quickly read on.

**his body smashing against an SUV's windshield, some annoyed commuter trying to push him off with the wipers. **_**Stupid sixteen-year-old kid falling from the sky! I'm late! **_

Nico faked a squeak, and began talking in a high-pitched voice. "Eek! It's a dead bug!"

"Squash it! Squash it!" Sarah played along.

"Aaaaah!" the two yelled together, before bursting out laughing. Thalia laughed along with them, while Percy palmed his face.

**Miraculously, a gust of wind blew him to one side—just enough to miss the highway and crash into a clump of bushes. It wasn't a soft landing, but it was better than asphalt. **

"Aww…" Thalia, Nico and Sarah said sadly.

Percy rolled his eyes. "Glad to know you guys care."

**Percy groaned. He wanted to lie there and pass out, but he had to keep moving. **

**He struggled to his feet. His hands were scratched up, but no bones seemed to be broken. He still had his backpack. Somewhere on the sled ride he'd lost his sword, but Percy knew it would eventually reappear in his pocket in pen form. That was part of its magic.**

"Magic," Leo whispered.

It was silent for a while, until Thalia broke it by continuing to read.

**He glanced up the hill. The gorgons were hard to miss, with their colorful snake hair and their bright green Bargain Mart vests. They were picking their way down the slope, going slower than Percy but with a lot more control. Those chicken feet must've been good for climbing. **

"I wonder if we could make drumsticks out of those," Nico pondered, and everyone scooted away from him a little bit. "Maybe it'll even sell at KFC. I should offer that to them… I even have a slogan for it: Gorgon feet! Taste like chicken!"

Everyone scrambled off and moved to another hill.

Nico looked around. "Hey? Where'd everybody go?"

**Percy figured he had maybe five minutes before they reached him. **

**Next to him, a tall chain-link fence separated the highway from a neighborhood of winding streets, cozy houses, and tall eucalyptus trees. The fence was probably there to keep people from getting onto the highway and doing stupid things—like sledding into the fast lane on snack trays—but the chain-link was full of big holes. Percy could easily slip through into the neighborhood. Maybe he could find a car and drive west to the ocean. He didn't like stealing cars, **

"Unlike someone we know," Leo coughed, and Piper glared at him.

**but over the past few weeks, in life-and-death situations, he'd "borrowed" several, including a police cruiser. **

"Sweet, man!" Frank commented, clasping him on the back.

Percy smiled, and Thalia mentally groaned.

**He'd meant to return them, but they never seemed to last very long. **

"LOL," Nico laughed. Everyone jumped.

"Where'd you come from?" Hazel asked, slightly frightened by her brother's sudden appearance.

He jerked his thumb to the hill across them. "Didn't think you'd get rid of me that easily, did you?" He smirked. Hazel just rolled his eyes.

**He glanced east. Just as he'd figured, a hundred yards uphill the highway cut through the base of the cliff. Two tunnel entrances, one for each direction of traffic, stared down at him like eye sockets of a giant skull. In the middle, where the nose would have been, a cement wall jutted from the hillside, with a metal door like the entrance to a bunker. **

**It might have been a maintenance tunnel. **

Jason snorted. "You wish, couz."

**That's probably what mortals thought, if they noticed the door at all. But they couldn't see through the Mist. Percy knew the door was more than that. **

**Two kids in armor flanked the entrance. **

"Guess who?" Frank chuckled, as he and Hazel shared a look.

**They wore a bizarre mix of plumed Roman helmets, breastplates, scabbards, blue jeans, purple T-shirts, and white athletic shoes. The guard on the right looked like a girl, though it was hard to tell for sure with all the armor.**

"Me!" cried Hazel, smiling brilliantly.

**The one on the left was a stocky guy with a bow and quiver on his back. **

"And me!" yelled Frank, and he and Hazel slammed a high-five. "Booyah!"

**Both kids held long wooden staffs with iron spear tips, like old-fashioned harpoons. **

**Percy's internal radar was pinging like crazy. After so many horrible days, he'd finally reached his goal. His instincts told him that if he could make it inside that door, he might find safety for the first time since the wolves had sent him south. **

**So why did he feel such dread? **

"Because you're a wimp," stated Nico simply. Thalia nodded her head in agreement, trying to keep a straight face.

**Farther up the hill, the gorgons were scrambling over the roof of the apartment complex. Three minutes away—maybe less.**

**Part of him wanted to run to the door in the hill. He'd have to cross to the median of the highway, but then it would be a short sprint. He could make it before the gorgons reached him. **

**Part of him wanted to head west to the ocean. That's where he'd be safest. That's where his power would be greatest. Those Roman guards at the door made him uneasy. Something inside him said: **_**This isn't my territory. This is dangerous. **_

"**You're right, of course," said a voice next to him. Percy jumped. At first he thought Beano had managed to sneak up on him again, but the old lady sitting in the bushes was even more repulsive than a gorgon. **

"Is that possible?" asked Piper.

Percy snorted. "It could only be a goddess."

**She looked like a hippie who'd been kicked to the side of the road maybe forty years ago, where she'd been collecting trash and rags ever since. She wore a dress made of tie-dyed cloth, ripped-up quilts, and plastic grocery bags. Her frizzy mop of hair was gray-brown, like root-beer foam, tied back with a peace-sign headband. Warts and moles covered her face. When she smiled, she showed exactly three teeth. **

"Just Leo's type," Frank hooted, and everyone fell over (except Leo, who was frowning angrily), roaring with laughter.

"**It isn't a maintenance tunnel," she confided. "It's the entrance to camp."**

**A jolt went up Percy's spine. **_**Camp**_**. Yes, that's where he was from. A camp. Maybe this was his home. Maybe Annabeth was close by. **

"Actually far away from that," Thalia interrupted herself.

**But something felt wrong. **

"Was it the fact that you still exist?"

"Shut up, Nico."

**The gorgons were still on the roof of the apartment building. Then Stheno shrieked in delight and pointed in Percy's direction. **

"Someone's got a crush," Leo sang. Guess who got hit by a rock.

**The old hippie lady raised her eyebrows. "Not much time, child. You need to make your choice." **

"**Who are you?"**

"Why, your fairy godmother of course!" the Son of Hades joked again, not learning from his previous lesson.

Percy frowned, unable to take more teasing.

Leo faked-gasped. "My, my, Percy! I didn't know you were Cinderella in disguise!"

Frank smirked, joining in. "How's your dance with _Prince_ Charming?"

This caused a round of laughter (mostly from Thalia, Nico and the jokers). Percy tried to glare at them to stop, which unfortunately didn't work out.

**Percy asked, though he wasn't sure he wanted to know. The last thing he needed was another harmless mortal who turned out to be a monster. **

"**Oh, you can call me June." The old lady's eyes sparkled as if she'd made an excellent joke. "It **_**is**_** June, isn't it? They named the month after me!" **

Annabeth's eyes widened in realization, and shared a look with her boyfriend to confirm.

Percy merely nodded as his girlfriend's face turned deadly furious.

"**Okay…Look, I should go. Two gorgons are coming. I don't want them to hurt you."**

"Better leave her in the dust to rot," Annabeth growled. Everyone scooted further away from her. Well, except Thalia and Percy, that is.

**June clasped her hands over her heart. "How sweet! But that's part of your choice!"**

"**My choice…" Percy glanced nervously toward the hill. The gorgons had taken off their green vests. Wings sprouted from their backs—small bat wings, which glinted like brass. **

**Since when did they have **_**wings**_**? **

"Maybe your fairy godmother granted you your wish! To be killed by flying gorgons!"

**Maybe they were ornamental. Maybe they were too small to get a gorgon into the air. Then the two sisters leaped off the apartment building and soared toward him. **

_**Great. Just great**_**.**

"Yep! Awesome, terrific, marvelous, brilliant, wonderful, perfect—"

"Nico shut up and let me read."

"**Yes, a choice," June said, as if she were in no hurry. **

Annabeth snorted. "She probably just wanted you to die."

"**You could leave me here at the mercy of the gorgons and go to the ocean. You'd make it there safely, I guarantee. The gorgons will be quite happy to attack me and let you go. In the sea, no monster would bother you. You could begin a new life, live to a ripe old age, and escape a great deal of pain and misery that is in your future."**

"Uh-oh," smiled Sarah.

**Percy was pretty sure he wasn't going to like the second option. "Or?" **

"**Or you could do a good deed for an old lady," she said. "Carry me to the camp with you." **

"I'd take the first option," Annabeth interrupted. Thalia sent her a menacing glare, warning her to stop commenting about the goddess. She had no idea who she was, but she wanted to finish this chapter as soon as possible.

"**Carry you?" Percy hoped she was kidding. Then June hiked up her skirts and showed him her swollen purple feet.**

"First gorgon drumsticks, and now purple feet! I have no idea what our world is becoming! Unless, that is, she _painted_ her feet purple…"

Thalia sighed. "Nico, 'purple feet' is just the description of the swollen part."

"Oh."

"**I can't get there by myself," she said. "Carry me to camp—across the highway, through the tunnel, across the river." **

**Percy didn't know what river she meant, but it didn't sound easy. June looked pretty heavy. **

**The gorgons were only fifty yards away now—leisurely gliding toward him as if they knew the hunt was almost over. **

**Percy looked at the old lady. "And I'd carry you to this camp because—?" **

"**Because it's a kindness!" she said. "And if you don't, the gods will die, the world we know will perish, and everyone from your old life will be destroyed. **

"Boy, that sounds like a threat if I ever heard one," commented Tristan, smirking slightly.

**Of course, you wouldn't remember them, so I suppose it won't matter. You'd be safe at the bottom of the sea.…" **

**Percy swallowed. The gorgons shrieked with laughter as they soared in for the kill. "If I go to the camp," he said, "will I get my memory back?" **

"**Eventually," June said. "But be warned, you will sacrifice much! You'll lose the Mark of Achilles. You'll feel pain, misery, and loss beyond anything you've ever known. **

"I don't get what's so bad. Sounds great to me." Leo sighed, imagining Percy's life of wonder. Then he shuddered. "Oh, yeah. Pain and misery is bad".

**But you might have a chance to save your old friends and family, to your old life."**

"That's the bright side," Jason added, and Leo nodded in agreement.

**The gorgons were circling right overhead. They were probably studying the old woman, trying to figure out who the new player was before they struck. **

"**What about those guards at the door?" Percy asked. **

**June smiled. "Oh, they'll let you in, dear. You can trust those two. So, what do you say? Will you help a defenseless old woman?" **

**Percy doubted June was defenseless. At worst, this was a trap. At best, it was some kind of test. **

**Percy hated tests. Since he'd lost his memory, his whole life was one big fill-in-the-blank. He was _, from _. He felt like _, and if the monsters caught him, he'd be _.**

"_ _ _ _," Nico murmured.

"_! _ _!" yelled Percy angrily.

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "_ _"

**Then he thought about Annabeth, the only part of his old life he was sure about. He **_**had**_** to find her. **

"Awwwwww," chorused Nico, Sarah, and Leo.

"**I'll carry you." He scooped up the old woman. **

**She was lighter than he expected. Percy tried to ignore her sour breath and her calloused hands clinging to his neck. He made it across the first lane of traffic. A driver honked. Another yelled something that was lost in the wind. Most just swerved and looked irritated, as if they had to deal with a lot of ratty teenagers carrying old hippie women across the freeway here in Berkeley. A shadow fell over him. **

**Stheno called down gleefully, "Clever boy! Found a goddess to carry, did you?" **

**A goddess? June cackled with delight, muttering, "Whoops!" as a car almost killed them. **

**Somewhere off to his left, Euryale screamed, "Get them! Two prizes are better than one!" **

**Percy bolted across the remaining lanes. Somehow he made it to the median alive. He saw the gorgons swooping down, cars swerving as the monsters passed overhead. He wondered what the mortals saw through the Mist—giant pelicans? Off-course hang gliders? The wolf Lupa had told him that mortal minds could believe just about anything—except the truth. **

"True that! I once knew a guy who-"

"No one cares, Leo", chorused the group.

**Percy ran for the door in the hillside. June got heavier with every step. Percy's heart pounded. His ribs ached. **

**One of the guards yelled. The guy with the bow nocked an arrow. Percy shouted, "Wait!"**

**But the boy wasn't aiming at him. The arrow flew over Percy's head. A gorgon wailed in pain. The second guard readied her spear, gesturing frantically at Percy to hurry. **

**Fifty feet from the door. Thirty feet. **

"**Gotcha!" shrieked Euryale. Percy turned as an arrow thudded into her forehead. Euryale tumbled into the fast lane. A truck slammed into her and carried her backward a hundred yards, but she just climbed over the cab, pulled the arrow out of her head, and launched back into the air. **

**Percy reached the door. "Thanks," he told the guards. "Good shot." **

"**That should've killed her!" the archer protested. "Welcome to my world," Percy muttered. **

"**Frank," the girl said. "Get them inside, quick! Those are gorgons." **

"No duh", snorted Nico.

"**Gorgons?" The archer's voice squeaked. It was hard to tell much about him under the helmet, but he looked stout like a wrestler, maybe fourteen or fifteen. **

"**Will the door hold them?" In Percy's arms, June cackled. "No, no it won't. Onward, Percy Jackson! Through the tunnel, over the river!"**

"**Percy Jackson?" The female guard was darker-skinned, with curly hair sticking out the sides of her helmet. She looked younger than Frank—maybe thirteen. Her sword scabbard came down almost to her ankle. Still, she sounded like she was the one in charge. "Okay, you're obviously a demigod. But who's the—?" She glanced at June. "Never mind. Just get inside. I'll hold them off."**

"**Hazel," the boy said. "Don't be crazy." **

"**Go!" she demanded. Frank cursed in another language—was that Latin?—and opened the door. "Come on!" **

**Percy followed, staggering under the weight of the old lady, who was **_**definitely**_** getting heavier. He didn't know how that girl Hazel would hold off the gorgons by herself, but he was too tired to argue. **

"Oh yeah, just let her die, right? Typical Percy", mocked Nico.

Nico got drenched.

**The tunnel cut through solid rock, about the width and height of a school hallway. At first, it looked like a typical maintenance tunnel, with electric cables, warning signs, and fuse boxes on the walls, light bulbs in wire cages along the ceiling. As they ran deeper into the hillside, the cement floor changed to tiled mosaic. The lights changed to reed torches, which burned but didn't smoke. A few hundred yards ahead, Percy saw a square of daylight. **

**The old lady was heavier now than a pile of sandbags. Percy's arms shook from the strain. June mumbled a song in Latin, like a lullaby, which didn't help Percy concentrate. **

**Behind them, the gorgons' voices echoed in the tunnel. Hazel shouted. Percy was tempted to dump June and runback to help, but then the entire tunnel shook with the rumble of falling stone. There was a squawking sound, just like the gorgons had made when Percy had dropped a crate of bowling balls on them in Napa. He glanced back. The west end of the tunnel was now filled with dust. **

"**Shouldn't we check on Hazel?" he asked. **

"**She'll be okay—I hope," Frank said. "She's good underground. Just keep moving! We're almost there." **

"**Almost where?" **

**June chuckled. "All roads lead there, child. You should know that." **

"**Detention?" Percy asked. **

"Yes," everyone chorused, except for Tristan, who smirked. Then he laughed out loud.

"Ha! I've never been in detention. What do you guys do to get in?"

Tristan frowned. "Then again, I guess only going to school for 2 years helps".

Annabeth glared at Tristan. "Shut up, let's get back to reading."

Tristan shut up.

"**Rome, child," the old woman said. "Rome."**

**Percy wasn't sure he'd heard her right. True, his memory was gone. His brain hadn't felt right since he had woken up at the Wolf House. But he was pretty sure Rome wasn't in California. **

"No chizz, Sherlock", Sarah commented.

**They kept running. The glow at the end of the tunnel grew brighter, and finally they burst into sunlight. Percy froze. Spread out at his feet was a bowl-shaped valley several miles wide. The basin floor was rumpled with smaller hills, golden plains, and stretches of forest. A small clear river cut a winding course from a lake in the center and around the perimeter, like a capital G. **

**The geography could've been anywhere in northern California—live oaks and eucalyptus trees, gold hills and blue skies. That big inland mountain—what was it called, Mount Diablo?—rose in the distance, right where it should be. **

"Remember Enchiladas?" Leo asked Piper and Jason. Jason nodded, while Piper rolled her eyes.

"It's Enceladus, doofus. Don't you remember things that nearly kill you?"

Leo adopted a British accent. "Pish-posh, I daresay. I could have handled that foul beast as if it was my morning Crumpets and Tea!"

**But Percy felt like he'd stepped into a secret world. In the center of the valley, nestled by the lake, was a small city of white marble buildings with red-tiled roofs. Some had domes and columned porticoes, like national monuments. Others looked like palaces, with golden doors and large gardens. He could see an open plaza with freestanding columns, fountains, and statues. A five-story-tall Roman coliseum gleamed in the sun, next to a long oval arena like a racetrack. **

**Across the lake to the south, another hill was dotted with even more impressive buildings—temples, Percy guessed. Several stone bridges crossed the river as it wound through the valley, and in the north, a long line of brickwork arches stretched from the hills into the town. Percy thought it looked like an elevated train track. Then he realized it must be an aqueduct. **

**The strangest part of the valley was right below him. About two hundred yards away, just across the river, was some sort of military encampment. It was about a quarter mile square, with earthen ramparts on all four sides, the tops lined with sharpened spikes. Outside the walls ran a dry moat, also studded with spikes. Wooden watchtowers rose at each corner, manned by sentries with oversized, mounted crossbows. Purple banners hung from the towers. A wide gateway opened on the far side of camp, leading toward the city. A narrower gate stood closed on the riverbank side. Inside, the fortress bustled with activity: dozens of kids going to and from barracks, carrying weapons, polishing armor. Percy heard the clank of hammers at a forge and smelled meat cooking over a fire. **

"Mystery Meat! Guess correctly and you don't have to eat it!" remarked Nico.

"It's not veal, or like school lunch if that's what you think. It's usually a pig or a cow or something delicious", Frank snapped.

"Whatever", Nico shot back.

**Something about this place felt very familiar, yet not quite right. **

"**Camp Jupiter," Frank said. "We'll be safe once—" **

**Footsteps echoed in the tunnel behind them. Hazel burst into the light. She was covered with stone dust and breathing hard. She'd lost her helmet, so her curly brown hair fell around her shoulders. Her armor had long slash marks in front from the claws of a gorgon. One of the monsters had tagged her with a 50% off sticker. **

"**I slowed them down," she said. "But they'll be here any second." **

**Frank cursed. "We have to get across the river." **

**June squeezed Percy's neck tighter. "Oh, yes, please. I can't get my dress wet." **

**Percy bit his tongue. If this lady was a goddess, she must've been the goddess of smelly, heavy, useless hippies. But he'd come this far. He'd better keep lugging her along.**

_**It's a kindness**_**, she'd said. **_**And if you don't, the gods will die, the world we know will perish, and everyone from your old life will be destroyed**_**. **

**If this was a test, he couldn't afford to get an F. **

Annabeth sighed. "He always ends up with one anyways".

**He stumbled a few times as they ran for the river. Frank and Hazel kept him on his feet. **

**They reached the riverbank, and Percy stopped to catch his breath. The current was fast, but the river didn't look deep. Only a stone's throw across stood the gates of the fort. **

"**Go, Hazel." Frank nocked two arrows at once. "Escort Percy so the sentries don't shoot him. It's my turn to hold off the baddies." **

**Hazel nodded and waded into the stream. **

**Percy started to follow, but something made him hesitate. Usually he loved the water, but this river seemed…powerful, and not necessarily friendly. **

"**The Little Tiber," said June sympathetically. "It flows with the power of the original Tiber, river of the empire. This is your last chance to back out, child. The mark of Achilles is a Greek blessing. You can't retain it if you cross into Roman territory. The Tiber will wash it away."**

Understanding dawned on Nico's face. "Ohhh, that makes since now."

Percy sighed. "I thought I already told you that. Don't you ever listen to me?"

"No," came Nico's reply.

**Percy was too exhausted to understand all that, but he got the main point. "If I cross, I won't have iron skin anymore?" **

Nico started to sing: "I. Am. Iron Man! Something…something…how does it go again?"

Thalia sighed. "Anyways".

**June smiled. "So what will it be? Safety, or a future of pain and possibility?" **

**Behind him, the gorgons screeched as they flew from the tunnel. Frank let his arrows fly. **

**From the middle of the river, Hazel yelled, "Percy, come on!" **

**Up on the watchtowers, horns blew. The sentries shouted and swiveled their crossbows toward the gorgons. **

**Annabeth, Percy thought. He forged into the river. It was icy cold, much swifter than he'd imagined, but that didn't bother him. New strength surged through his limbs. His senses tingled like he'd been injected with caffeine. He reached the other side and put the old woman down as the camp's gates opened. Dozens of kids in armor poured out. **

**Hazel turned with a relieved smile. Then she looked over Percy's shoulder, and her expression changed to horror. "Frank!" **

**Frank was halfway across the river when the gorgons caught him. They swooped out of the sky and grabbed him by either arm. He screamed in pain as their claws dug into his skin.**

**The sentries yelled, but Percy knew they couldn't get a clear shot. They'd end up killing Frank. The other kids drew swords and got ready to charge into the water, but they'd be too late. **

**There was only one way. **

"Hero time!" yelled Percy excitedly.

**Percy thrust out his hands. An intense tugging sensation filled his gut, and the Tiber obeyed his will. The river surged. Whirlpools formed on either side of Frank. Giant watery hands erupted from the stream, copying Percy's movements. The giant hands grabbed the gorgons, who dropped Frank in surprise. Then the hands lifted the squawking monsters in a liquid vise grip. **

**Percy heard the other kids yelping and backing away, but he stayed focused on his task. He made a smashing gesture with his fists, and the giant hands plunged the gorgons into the Tiber. The monsters hit bottom and broke into dust. Glittering clouds of gorgon essence struggled to re-form, but the river pulled them apart like a blender. Soon every trace of the gorgons was swept downstream. The whirlpools vanished, and the current returned to normal.**

**Percy stood on the riverbank. His clothes and his skin steamed as if the Tiber's waters had given him an acid bath. He felt exposed, raw…vulnerable. In the middle of the Tiber, Frank stumbled around, looking stunned but perfectly fine. **

**Hazel waded out and helped him ashore. Only then did Percy realize how quiet the other kids had become. **

**Everyone was staring at him. Only the old lady June looked unfazed. **

"**Well, that was a lovely trip," she said. "Thank you, Percy Jackson, for bringing me to Camp Jupiter." **

**One of the girls made a choking sound. "Percy…Jackson?" She sounded as if she recognized his name. Percy focused on her, hoping to see a familiar face. **

**She was obviously a leader. She wore a regal purple cloak over her armor. Her chest was decorated with medals. She must have been about Percy's age, with dark, piercing eyes and long black hair. Percy didn't recognize her, but the girl stared at him as if she'd seen him in her nightmares. **

**June laughed with delight. "Oh, yes. You'll have such fun together!"**

**Then, just because the day hadn't been weird enough already, the old lady began to glow and change form. She grew until she was a shining, seven-foot-tall goddess in a blue dress, with a cloak that looked like goat's skin over her shoulders. Her face was stern and stately. In her hand was a staff topped with a lotus flower. **

**If it was possible for the campers to look more stunned, they did. The girl with the purple cloak knelt. The others followed her lead. One kid got down so hastily he almost impaled himself on his sword. **

"Ouch" said Sarah, smirking slightly.

**Hazel was the first to speak. "Juno." **

**She and Frank also fell to their knees, leaving Percy the only one standing. He knew he should probably kneel too, but after carrying the old lady so far, he didn't feel like showing her that much respect. **

"**Juno, huh?" he said. "If I passed your test, can I have my memory and my life back?" **

**The goddess smiled. "In time, Percy Jackson, if you succeed here at camp. You've done well today, which is a good start. Perhaps there's hope for you yet." **

**She turned to the other kids. "Romans, I present to you the son of Neptune. For months he has been slumbering, but now he is awake. His fate is in your hands. The Feast of Fortune comes quickly, and Death must be unleashed if you are to stand any hope in the battle. Do not fail me!" **

**Juno shimmered and disappeared. **

**Percy looked at Hazel and Frank for some kind of explanation, but they seemed just as confused as he was. Frank was holding something Percy hadn't noticed before—two small clay flasks with cork stoppers, like potions, one in each hand. Percy had no idea where they'd come from, but he saw Frank slip them into his pockets. Frank gave him a look like: **_**We'll talk about it later**_**. **

Nico shot up. "Gorgon's Blood. Am I right or am I right?"

Annabeth looked surprised. "Wow, Nico. You're actually right for once".

Nico smiled, pleased with himself. "Booyah!" Nico shouted, and proceeded to dance like he'd scored a touchdown in football.

Everyone else looked away in horror.

**The girl in the purple cloak stepped forward. She examined Percy warily, and Percy couldn't shake the feeling that she wanted to run him through with her dagger. **

"**So," she said coldly, "a son of Neptune, who comes to us with the blessing of Juno." **

"**Look," he said, "my memory's a little fuzzy. Um, it's gone, actually. Do I know you?" **

**The girl hesitated. "I am Reyna, praetor of the Twelfth Legion. And…no, I don't know you."**

**That last part was a lie. Percy could tell from her eyes. But he also understood that if he argued with her about it here, in front of her soldiers, she wouldn't appreciate it. **

"**Hazel," said Reyna, "bring him inside. I want to question him at the principia. Then we'll send him to Octavian. We must consult the auguries before we decide what to do with him." **

"**What do you mean," Percy asked, "'decide what to do with me?" **

**Reyna's hand tightened on her dagger. Obviously she was not used to having her orders questioned. "Before we accept anyone into camp, we must interrogate them and read the auguries. Juno said your fate is in our hands. We have to know whether the goddess has brought us as a new recruit.…" **

**Reyna studied Percy as if she found that doubtful. **

"**Or," she said more hopefully, "if she's brought us an enemy to kill."**

"No, she brought you a clown full of seaweed," Nico nodded. He was once again hit by a gush of water.

"Who wants to read next?" Thalia asked.

Sarah snatched the book out of her hands. She flipped through the pages. "Chapter three: Percy," she recited, before she even got to the page.

* * *

><p><strong>So how was that? I'm proud to say that about 50% of the work was mine! And thank you to all of the people who have decided to add this story and this author to favorites and alerts! I'm surprised that so many of you decided to do that so early on in the story! Again, thanks! And since I know most of you are big fans of winonabcd, don't despair! You'll hear from her soon!<strong>

**Sincerely, Roach26**


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